The present invention relates generally to a safety adapter for hypodermic needles, and specifically to an anti-stick adapter for hypodermic needles. The device is capable of housing a hypodermic needle of the type used in dental procedures, such that a person handling the needle will not be accidentally stuck by it.
The present invention addresses the concern for an improved and safe handling of a hypodermic needle. We live in an era of increased awareness to infectious diseases. In handling sharp medical instruments, such as hypodermic needles, there is always a chance that the user, or persons situated in the proximity of the medical instruments, may be exposed to cuts or stings. Therefore, an urgent need exists for safety measures and adapters designed to prevent accidental injury and infection due to contaminated medical instruments.
Several inventions and designs have addressed the issue of a safety adapter for guarding a needle. It has long been known in the prior art to provide pivotable safety adapters connected to the syringe and guarding the needle. However, these adapters appear to involve mating with the ejection end of the syringe and do not solve the additional problems created by a hypodermic needle used in surgical dental procedures. In this regard, the hypodermic syringe assembly frequently used by dentists comprises a luer and two needles, located on each side of the luer, opposite to one another. The first needle is longer and its end passes through the patient's tissue to deliver medication. The second needle is shorter and its end pierces a canister located within a syringe which contains the medication. The luer is used to attach the two needles to the syringe.
As an example of the prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,842 to Hollister teaches a safety adapter having two sections and a housing flexibly connected to one of the sections. The first section is adaptable to be mated with the hub of a needle assembly, while the second section is adaptable to different types of syringes. The pivotable housing surrounds the needle and a retainer mechanism in the housing prevents movement between the needle and the housing. However, when the needle assembly is removed for disposal, there is no readily available protection for the second needle hidden inside the syringe. Therefore, there still remains a need for an anti-stick adapter that is adaptable to be used with different types of needles, including needles used by dentists.
It is an object of this invention to provide an anti-stick adapter adaptable to hypodermic needles used by dentists in dental procedures. It is another object of the present invention to provide such an adapter that is safe and easy to use.